


D34RLY 8eloved

by AltUniverseWash



Series: Forever After [6]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alt Epilogue, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Earth C (Homestuck), F/F, Feelings, Fluff, Fluff but also it's kinda not, Forever After AU, Marriage, Okay so when I went back to finish this it ended up getting kinda deep, Planting some of the VrisKanRoseRezi seeds, Positive Relationships, Romance, Romfluff, Shipping, Trans Female Character, Wedding, relationships, vrisrezi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-27
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:08:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23878927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AltUniverseWash/pseuds/AltUniverseWash
Summary: After the harrowing events of the past, Vriska Serket and Terezi Pyrope are ready to settle in together, relax... and get married!Set in the Forever After alt-epilogue continuity shortly after A Piece of Each of Our Hearts, this is a combination of extended fluff fill and feelings jam based around Terezi and Vriska's wedding.
Relationships: Kanaya Maryam & Vriska Serket, Rose Lalonde & Vriska Serket, Terezi Pyrope/Vriska Serket
Series: Forever After [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1664167
Comments: 10
Kudos: 24





	1. Vriska Serket, Dressed for the Occasion

“It’s tight,” Vriska was saying, drawing in her breath. She wasn’t sure she actually felt comfortable dressed like this in the first place. The silk fabric of the corset was smooth, and she loved the navy blue – almost black – color of it. She did not, however, love the fact that she felt like she was constantly fighting against the fabric for air.

“It is a corset – it is  _ supposed _ to be tight!” Kanaya replied, her tone suggesting an eye-roll that wasn’t actually there. “And I would kindly remind you that  _ you _ are the one who suggested this particular outfit.”

She was right, although that would require a level of admitting to a possibly poor decision that Vriska wasn’t quite ready to own up to. Instead, she held in her stomach and waited for Kanaya to finish drawing up the closure on the corset.

“I mean, I’ll look pretty  _ hot _ though, right?” Vriska said with a laugh that took far more effort than she was prepared for. “Oh god maybe that’s too much!”

Kanaya shrugged and let the corset out – suddenly Vriska was able to breathe properly again. She scrunched up her face.

“Maybe… that… but  _ less _ ?” She asked. “Can it be less… restrictive?”

“You are the one who requested specifically to show off your figure. I believe you drew inspiration from some piece of Mindfang-related costuming you remembered from the distant past.”

Vriska glanced back at Kanaya and saw that she was blushing slightly. Vriska raised an eyebrow.

“Everything… okay?”

Kanaya fumbled with the closure for the corset as she laced it back up. “I was just… nothing.”

Vriska grinned at her and winked. “It’s okay, fussyfangs – looking doesn’t cost you anything!”

Kanaya’s face grew slightly more flushed and she turned away, looking over towards a dress form she had set to the side. “In any case, I must finish fitting you for the rest of your outfit.”

She walked over and pulled the dress form along – set on it was a suit jacket that had been made in a style that Kanaya called “Regency.” While this meant nothing to Vriska, Kanya had told her it was an Earth style and then she’d said some other stuff that sounded boring – Vriska had almost immediately forgotten it.

The key take-aways, as far as Vriska was concerned, were that it looked really cool, and she thought Terezi would appreciate it. The suit was made of a fine wool fabric, dyed deep royal blue, and presented a series of folds and layers that gave it a sense of complexity both visually and – and this was important – to the touch.

Vriska smiled to herself. She had done a good thing with this outfit. Well, Kanaya had done the actual work… but Vriska had definitely confirmed that she liked the pattern and that had to count for something, at least!

Kanaya retrieved the suit from the form and slipped it over Vriska’s shoulders. The wool was surprisingly smooth and cool against Vriska’s exposed arms.

“Now you will be wearing a shirt underneath the corset during the actual ceremony, but it shouldn’t affect the fit overly much,” Kanaya said. She adjusted the suit on Vriska’s leanly muscular frame and helped do up the buttons. The suit buttoned up only part way, leaving the top of the corset exposed.

Kanaya walked to another corner of the room and retrieved a full-length mirror, bringing it over and adjusting it in front of Vriska so she could see the suit for herself.

I look… good. Beautiful.

That was a surprisingly odd thought to have. Because, despite her confidence about her appearance, Vriska Serket had seldom thought of herself as  _ beautiful _ . Sure, she was sexy and good-looking and all that – those were just natural facts. But this was a wholly different kind of feeling – one she wasn’t at all opposed to.

“Huh,” she said to herself as she turned to see herself from different angles. “You did…”

Vriska was caught in a sudden quandary where her desire to say something somewhat snarky was fighting against the urge to open up and gush – because the fact that Kanaya had volunteered to do this for her had actually brought her near tears.

“This is amazing,” she said quietly. “I love it.”

A pause – Vriska looked herself up and down in the mirror and turned to look at Kanaya. “Thank you.”

Kanaya was blushing again and looking down at the floor. “Yes. Of course I was happy to do this for you two.”

_ You two _ – that reminded Vriska! She grinned.

“So… you gonna tell me what you made for Terezi?!” She couldn’t hide the excitement in her voice.

Kanaya looked at her and shook her head. “I cannot reveal that at this time! I have sworn to Terezi that I would keep her outfit a secret from you until the actual day of the wedding.”

“Oh, like that stupid  _ human _ custom – can’t see the bride before the ceremony?! Bluh!” Vriska stuck out her tongue.

“The very idea of a  _ wedding _ is a human custom to begin with, Vriska,” Kanaya retorted. “But no, Terezi has requested only that you not see her outfit until the day of the wedding. She was not specific as to the exact time of day or proximity to your nuptials.”

“Just a hint?” Vriska asked, a pleading edge creeping into her voice. She wasn’t about to admit it to anyone, least of all Kanaya, but she was  _ desperate  _ to see what Terezi was going to be wearing. “Please?”

Kanaya shook her head, walking to a sewing table along the edge of the room. “Absolutely not! I take my promises seriously, as you well know.”

She bent down and retrieved a pair of pants made from the same fine wool as the suit. When she’d handed them to Vriska, she spoke again.

“You will like her outfit. That is all I will say.” Kanaya nodded. “Now put on the pants.”

Vriska pulled the pants up along her legs, up over her narrow hips, and up to her waist. Kanaya had told her that the style of pants – a somewhat high-waisted pair of trousers with buttons up the front – was a match for the style of suit. Kanaya had made adjustments to the pattern to draw the waist in, leaving room for Vriska’s hips and working along with the corset to accentuate her figure.

Pants in place, Vriska looked at herself in the mirror again.

Holy fucking shit!

Vriska turned, moving left and right and seeing how the whole outfit worked together perfectly on her.

“Jegus, Kanaya!”

“Oh. Is there something wrong?” Kanaya furrowed her brow and stepped in front of Vriska, looking up and down to check everything. “I was sure I checked all the measurements.”

Vriska leaned forward – and planted a kiss on the middle of Kanaya’s forehead. She saw the tall, somewhat-fussy troll lose her composure and step back, face alight, mouth open.

“It looks fucking  _ perfect _ !” Vriska exclaimed, clapping her hands together. “Terezi’s gonna love this!  _ I _ love this!”

She could see how Kanaya’s face lit up, and Vriska felt a soaring feeling inside of her chest. She’d always made a big show of performative emotional distance – she basically had to in the past. It was a good way to survive on Alternia – a good way to keep yourself from feeling like your entire world just existed to crush you. It was how she survived the Other Place too, maybe.

But she didn’t have to do that anymore. She was allowed to  _ feel  _ things now.

And right now, she felt  _ beautiful  _ and that wasn’t a thing she was used to. It made her more than a little bit giddy. She realized she was grinning at the mirror and straightened herself up, brushing at the suit.

“Yes. It’s great,” she said, turning her nose up in the air in a gesture of mock-aloofness. She grinned again. “Oh shit, Kanaya, I don’t know how to thank you for this.”

“Your happiness is an excellent start,” Kanaya said with a small smile. “If Terezi likes this as much as you seem to, then I will consider myself paid in full.”


	2. Terezi Pyrope, Outfitted with Care

“Are you sure it looks all right?” Terezi asked, her voice trembling a little. “She’s gonna like it, right?”

Kanaya let out an exasperated sigh. “I believe she will very much like it, Terezi. Please hold still.”

“Okay,” Terezi said. To her credit, she was able to hold still for a solid twenty seconds before she fidgeted again on the low stool she stood on as Kanaya made alterations. She was having a  _ very _ hard time holding still in the last few days. Probably unrelated to the fact she was getting married soon.

In two days! You’re getting married in two days!

“But you’re  _ sure? _ ” She asked. Kanaya groaned.

“Yes!” Kanaya snapped back. “Please hold still! You are being exceedingly frustrating right now and I cannot imagine what it is like to live in a house with you and Vriska bouncing around!”

Terezi shrugged and held still again. “Eh – we manage.” The marriage might be new, but they’d been living together for nearly a year. So, yes, Terezi supposed that they had been managing.

If she was being truly honest, the whole “marriage” thing shouldn’t even matter in the first place. Not only were she and Vriska already living together, the whole concept was an entirely human one! The idea of settling into a singular relationship with a matesprit… it wasn’t unheard of, or even necessarily unusual, but it didn’t carry the same weight that the whole human concept of marriage did. At least not as Rose had explained it.

Terezi blew out a long, spluttering, breath and she heard Kanaya  _ tsk _ at her.

“Really if you are not going to let me make these adjustments I should perhaps–”

“Kanaya?” Terezi asked, cutting the other troll off in a mid-fuss. “Why’d you and Rose get married? I mean… isn’t that kinda weird, given the circumstances?”

“I do not follow your meaning,” Kanaya said absent-mindedly, still trying to adjust the midsection of Terezi’s outfit.

It didn’t seem like a true statement – Terezi had a feeling that Kanaya knew exactly what she was asking. “Oh please – stop that. You know what I mean. It wasn’t a thing on Alternia at all, and what humans are left to enforce it now? What does it even  _ mean _ ?”

Kanaya paused and actually seemed to consider the question for a moment. Finally, she responded. “Whatever you want it to mean.”

“That’s the least-helpful–” before she could finish, she felt a rush of air as Kanaya’s hand shot up to stop her.

“I was not done,” she said, quietly. “It means literally whatever you want. Any institutions that might have offered additional framework are long gone. We have only the meaning that we make for ourselves – that guidance which our hearts provide. If you want to spend all your hours together or if you simply like the way it sounds to say that you will be meeting your wife for lunch after you both finish making love to your other girlfriends…”

Terezi blushed in spite of herself. “Okay, yeah, I get it. Shit, Kanaya!”

She thought she heard Kanaya laugh – no, she  _ definitely _ heard Kanaya laugh.

“Meaning is what you make of it, Terezi,” she finished in an unusually succinct fashion and from her tone, Terezi got the sense she was smiling.

“Well, what I make of it is I want her to be okay, and be happy,” Terezi replied, trying once again to stand still. “That’s about as far as I thought of it. And I want her to like this dress!”

Because it was a dress that Kanaya was currently putting the finishing touches on. A thing that Terezi Pyrope had never once worn before in her entire life. She could barely describe how nervous she was about it.

At some point along the line of conversation that had eventually led to her decision to actually propose to Vriska, Terezi had encountered the idea of the  _ wedding dress _ and had promptly fallen in love with the idea. She couldn’t say  _ why  _ exactly–

I want to look pretty for her. I’m not… used to thinking of myself like that.

Terezi’s life had not been one possessed of many soft spots. Life on Alternia had been hard to the point of unceasing and pointless brutality, and everything that had happened since the start of the S’Grub session had been the kind of unrelenting press of traumatic experiences that left deep scars.

She saw things the others didn’t. Things she didn’t tell anyone else – not even Vriska. The images were faint and blurred, as if she were staring through a smoky glass, but they were there all the same. Every time a decision was made, the effects carried so much more weight. They cascaded down and eventually everything fell apart.

Terezi glanced at Kanaya and she shivered. Kanaya would never hurt her.

In this version of events.

The faint thought was gone – the not-memory banished to the far, forgotten corner of her mind. She knew it would come again, unbidden, as so many of them did. But that wasn’t a worry for the moment.

Was she  _ wrong _ for wanting something to come out of her life besides pain? Her time with Vriska had been a ray of hope against a tapestry of misery. The least she wanted to do was show some level of acknowledgement of that fact.

“Ouch!” She felt a sharp prick in her arm, followed by a sharp hiss of breath from Kanaya.

“I am sorry! My hand slipped pinning the dress!”

Terezi felt Kanaya’s gentle fingers running over the spot on her arm where the pin had hit her. “It does not appear that you have suffered any lasting injury – it has not even drawn blood.”

That touch lingered. Terezi felt a smile creeping up on her.

“I can basically _feel_ you staring, y’know. I thought you were the _subtle_ one in the relationship, Kanaya? Does Rose know how you feel?” She laughed – just a bit – and stuck out her tongue.

“Hmph.” Kanaya drew her hand back and Terezi heard the rustle of her skirt as she turned. “Terezi Pyrope, you are being extremely indecent right now.”

Terezi turned her head in Kanaya’s direction and grinned again. “I’m just shitting around. What’s gonna happen? You gonna leave Rose and marry me instead? Shall we _elope_ , Kanaya?!” She put her hands to her cheeks in mock surprise – Kanaya chuckled at her.

“You are joking, of course. I would not leave Rose, regardless of how attractive I might find you.”

Terezi blushed at her comment. “Oh, Kanaya, you’re–”

But Kanaya continued, and Terezi could practically _feel_ the sly grin. “In a rough and extremely uncultured manner, of course.”

“I’m wounded!” Terezi spun around on the small stool and put a hand to her heart. “You’ll kill me!”

“Oh please,” Kanaya said as she walked back over and again placed a hand on Terezi’s arm to steady her. “You are an exceptionally silly woman. Now please hold still once more so I can finish tailoring this!”


	3. Rose LaLonde, Officiant without a Cause

Rose was, in spite of herself, feeling rather nervous. She had already assured Kanaya that everything was fine – that she was completely ready to do this. It was just a silly thing, after all. No one cared one way or another if Terezi and Vriska were legally married – the concept itself was laughably meaningless here on this world that they’d helped to bring into being. If the two of them simply wanted to declare that they were wives now, it wasn’t like there was anyone who would stop them… or care in any way.

But regardless of all that…

“Sis, you good?” Rose looked up to see Dave leaning against the living room wall. They’d decided to use Rose and Kanaya’s house for the ceremony and celebration after, and Rose couldn’t help but remember the party she’d thrown for June when she came out a couple years back.

“Seriously – you good?” Dave repeated the question without moving… or removing the sunglasses he insisted on wearing basically all the time.

“Don’t you have a Karkat to shadow or something?” Rose didn’t mean it to sound as snarky as it did – she immediately regretted it. “I’m sorry… I have no idea why, but I’m a bit off today.”

Dave shrugged. “It’s cool. Karkat said I should be more outgoing and hang out around the house less. So I’m bugging you.”

Rose smiled from her place in the kitchen adjoining the living room. Decorations were hung somewhat hap-hazardly around – the combined result of June and Roxy’s garden-path style of decorating a room. The ceremony itself would be held outside – by the literal garden path among the roses that Kanaya kept. Rose looked over the expansive living room and wondered – not for the first time – why she and Kanaya had made the house so _big._ They often had friends over as guests, but generally there was no particular reason for it to be so large. It almost felt as if it were missing one or two permanent residents.

“Dave, you really don’t have to worry about me,” she said without moving from her spot. “I’m just nervous because this is something I haven’t exactly done before.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Dave smiled. “It’s tough to do new things. I mean… this is a lot, right? Way harder than defeating god-like beings of incredible power or literally coming back from the dead, right?”

“Stop!” Now Rose could feel her lips curling up into a smile.

He’s got a point – I’m being silly.

“It’s just… I don’t know,” Rose looked back down at her hands, clasped in front of her and propped up on the counter. “I’ve gotten to know them both a lot lately. When Terezi finally came back to stay… and after all that weird stuff with Jade…” she trailed off and kept staring at her hands. It wasn’t something she was sure she wanted to think about too much – Terezi hadn’t said much about it, and Jade was basically avoiding all of them these days. Terezi had said she wasn’t mad and it wasn’t anyone’s fault, but something had clearly happened and it was uncomfortable for both of them.

“It feels kinda weird, yeah?” Dave asked, not smiling now.

“Yeah, it feels kinda weird. I know it’s been a while and I know she and Vriska are working through stuff and… that’s the other thing…” she trailed off again and furrowed her brow.

What was it with Vriska?

“That feels weird too.” It wasn’t a question – Dave was frowning too. “After Vriska came back, right?”

“Yeah. She showed up and everything felt like it got shaken up for a couple days. And Kanaya told me she kind of… popped in and out of existence. If that makes any sense.”

“Rose, you’re talking to a dude who’s basically on a first-name basis with all his dead time-selves. Basically anything you tell me I’m gonna accept without question at this point.”

Rose laughed. “Yeah, okay, good point. I guess the biggest thing is I’ve gotten to the point where I see both of them as my friends. And they’ve both been through so _much._ Even if you want to ignore Vriska and the black hole – which she still won’t really talk about – looking back on the whole situation on Alternia is pretty mind-boggling. It’s hard to imagine living around that.”

“But we’re here – all ten fingers and nine toes and all.” She couldn’t see Dave’s eyes but she swore she heard a wink in his voice – she smiled.

“Yes, that. But this whole thing is important to them.” Rose turned and looked past Dave – out to the large set of windows that took up the entire wall of the living room. There was a balcony beyond… and beyond that a lake shimmered in the early afternoon sun. It was beautifully and idyllic, and it felt somehow meaningful in a way Rose couldn’t quite place. Meaningful conversations had been had on that balcony. More still would be in the years to come.

There was no reason for Rose to know this – she’d found her senses of precognition had grown progressively more dull the further they moved from the influence of Skaia and demise of the Green Sun. But somehow, she still knew it. Once again, the vaguely haunting sense that the house wasn’t full. There were more occupants to come.

The pitter patter of little feet?

That felt wrong too. In spite of her and Kanaya’s work with the troll young, neither of them had felt especially motivated to have children of their own. Maybe the result of her own experiences with an oft-absent mother.

“Never mind,” she said out-loud.

“What?” Dave responded, having not been privy to the extended conversation she’d just had with herself inside the confines of her own head. “Sorry, sis, I think I lost that one for a bit.”

“Don’t worry about it, Dave – just pondering some stuff to myself.” She smiled at him.

“Well, my point is don’t worry about it so fucking much. They’re just doing this for fun – I’m surprised it wasn’t some big damn joke on Terezi’s part but… I dunno, I guess she went through some stuff that made her change…”

She peered closely at Dave. “You know more about what happened with Jade, don’t you?” Dave fidgeted in place and Rose sighed. “Don’t worry about it – I’m not going to pry or anything. Just… I assume there’s a reason why you’re saying this?”

“Yeah. I’m saying it cause this is important to those two, but also they’re not expecting anything more than for their friend to be involved and say some nice things about them before declaring them official best gal-pals for life or whatever it is you crazy gal lovers say.” He was smirking at her and she shook her head.

“That is the preferred official lesbian terminology, yes. Thank you for being so sensitive!” Rose finally mustered up the will to stand away from the counter and stretched her legs slowly, contemplating her next move – it would probably be appropriate to go get dressed before the actual start of the ceremony. “Were you just planning to kind of hang out here and bother me, or was there something specific you had in mind?”

Dave shrugged. “Dunno. I already asked Kanaya if she needed help with the Terezi outfit – I guess I’m not supposed to see that or know anything about it. She already told me the big secret, but I’m basically a brick wall is how quiet I’m gonna be until the reveal later today. Mum’s the mother-fuckin’ word and all that. I see June and Rox already did the decorating.” He looked around the living room. “It’s got that chaotic energy all up in here.”

Rose laughed and looked again at the decorations. “It does, at that. Well, I suppose you can help me with what I’m planning to say.” Rose walked to the corner of the kitchen and retrieved a set of notecards lined with her cramped handwriting. She handed them to Dave, who held them up to his face.

“I’m not looking for any specific feedback,” Rose said. “Just give me an idea if it sounds good, generally speaking.”

She waited while he read through… and found herself getting more and more nervous in spite of herself. She was quite confident in her skills as a writer, but there was a wide margin between writing works of complex (verging on convoluted, the less-charitable of her friends might say) fiction and writing down some of her innermost feelings to share with everyone. She had refined the art of saying much without revealing her heart to the point where it was a science… breaking from that habit wasn’t an easy thing to do.

After a few minutes, Dave handed the cards back to her without a word. She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips.

“Well?” Rose asked. Dave put a hand to his chin and made a face that suggested deep thought. “What did you think?”

Dave smiled. “I think it’s you, sis. No offense, but you’re good at not being yourself when you talk… but that feels different. That’s a good thing, by the way – just a general F-Y-I.”

“Thanks. I… it was harder than I thought it was going to be to write, to be honest. I guess I’m not used to just being myself.”

“Yeah…” Dave turned to look out the window and Rose could almost see the trace of a tear in his eye around the edge of the sunglasses. “I know that feeling…”

“Well, Kanaya was saying I should be more open with people in general. She said that she knows how it feels to hold people at arm’s length because she does the same thing.” Rose smiled. “She said that she was making an effort to stop, and that she strongly suggested I do the same.”

Dave laughed. “Yeah, that sounds like her. She’s straight-forward sometimes.”

“When she wants to be, yeah,” Rose laughed.


	4. Kanaya Maryam, Confident of the One

I swear those two are completely impossible sometimes.

Her business with Terezi’s dress finished, Kanaya put the last of her sewing things away, placing them neatly into the cabinet she had for just that purpose. Unlike Rose’s somewhat chaotic system of organization, Kanaya felt better having a specific place for the tools of her trade. It helped to keep her thoughts straight, as it were.

There was a knock at the door.

“I already told you it would be ready in time for the ceremony this afternoon, Terezi,” she called out without looking.

The voice that came from the door wasn’t who she expected. “Yeah, about that.” Vriska sounded a bit less boisterous than she had earlier during her fitting.

Kanaya looked up – Vriska was looking around the corner of the door and her brows were knit with an expression that looked something like worry. She spoke again and her voice shook a little – “Can I come in for a minute?”

“Of course you may come in,” Kanaya said without hesitation. “I have finished with Terezi’s outfit and it is safely stored out of sight from you.” That comment elicited a smirk from Vriska, who walked in and sat down on a rolling stool that Kanaya used when working. She crossed her arms in front of herself and leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. She looked almost embarrassed.

“Do you mind if we talk for a minute? About something serious.” The shake was still there in her voice.

“Of course.” Kanaya walked over and pushed the door to the room shut before walking back and perching herself on the edge of a desk near where Vriska was sitting. “Is this a matter which concerns the upcoming nuptials?”

Vriska shook her head. “No… this is more of a you and me kind of thing.”

Kanaya wasn’t sure what to say to that – she wasn’t expecting for anyone to be focused on much other than the wedding today, and certainly wasn’t expecting for Vriska Serket to propose a heart-to-heart conversation.

“I see no reason why that should sway us from this course,” Kanaya said after a moment of thought. “Unless you plan to confess your undying love for me and intention of marrying me instead of Terezi. Because I must inform you that this will require some discussion with Rose beforehand.”

Vriska blushed and Kanaya grinned at her.

“I am joking, Vriska.” The other troll relaxed as soon as she said it. “But I must express some degree of confusion – what is it you believe should be discussed at this exact moment.”

“I dunno…” Vriska shifted on the stool and looked down. “I guess it’s not anything about right now. I just… I figured I should say something and if I let it go I’ll probably get caught up in something else and then that’ll be a missed opportunity. You know?”

Kanaya cocked her head to the side, but said nothing.

“Anyway, I know I… I said we should talk a few months back when all that weird shit was happening.” She was still looking down at the floor.

“I remember,” Kanaya responded. “I will admit it was a generally confusing time, but I appreciated your candor.”

“Yeah…” She looked back up at Kanaya. “Thing is… I still feel bad about how I treated you. And in a really weird way – like… I guess I didn’t talk about it a whole lot, but I probably should.”

“If you wish. I do not intend to force you to have a conversation you do not wish to have.”

Vriska nodded. “Yeah, I know. Thing is, I don’t remember all of it, but I remember enough. When I was in the black hole, I know I was re-living what I’d done on Alternia. I don’t know why exactly… I guess that was what kept coming back up as something I focused on.”

“That does sound…” Kanaya stopped. What could she say about it? Unpleasant? Unappealing? Terrifying? Horrific? This didn’t feel like a situation where her tendency towards understatement would be appropriate. She felt the burning of a tear forming in her eye and quickly brushed it away with the back of her hand.

Say something…

Before she knew it, she had stepped forward and pulled Vriska up into a hug – her arms wrapped around Vriska’s shoulders. The other troll didn’t say anything – nor did she make any move to try to get away. Instead, she leaned a head against Kanaya’s shoulders.

She was crying.

“I cannot imagine what it was like,” Kanaya said softly. “I do not have the words to express how much I wish that did not happen to you. In spite of everything you did back on Alternia… in spite of everything you did during our S’Grub session…”

She squeezed Vriska’s shoulders – shoulders that were softly shaking under the weight of her sobs.

Kanaya sighed. “You did not deserve what happened to you in the end. I know we have not spoken much on this but… I know you are not the same person you once were.”

“Yeah…” the sound of the reply was muffled as Vriska pressed her face into Kanaya’s shoulders.

Kanaya continued – “I know you explained this in brief before – the way you experienced time and the past events. I am guessing you somewhat _under-sold the experience_ , to borrow a human turn of phrase.”

The only response was another sob. Kanaya tightened the hug ever so slightly and the shaking stopped as Vriska calmed down.

“Fussyfangs…” muttered against her shoulder. “Kanaya…” clearer that time, as Vriska lifted her head. “We didn’t talk enough about everything that happened.”

Kanaya smiled at her. “That is correct. This is maybe not the best time, but I understand the sentiment. You are, after all, emotional today.”

Vriska smiled. “Smart ass.”

“On occasion.” Kanaya returned the smile. “However, I am being sincere. We have both been busy in the past few months, but I do feel that the conversation of our relationship is worth re-visiting.”

“I don’t know.” Vriska pushed out of the hug, took a step back, and crossed her arms in front of her body. She looked like she was trying to protect herself from something. “I don’t think I was really capable of relating to people back then.”

Vriska sat back down on the stool, her arms still crossed, and leaned over. “I mean, I don’t think I was capable of loving anyone. I think the only thing I could really feel for anyone was hatred… or contempt. Even the people I claimed to care about.”

Kanaya perched herself on the edge of the desk again and folded her hands neatly in her lap. “Was I one of the ones you held contempt for? Or did I rise to the level of hatred?”

Vriska shrugged. “I don’t know. I saw you and you had such a sense of purpose. You had a future as someone who helped to keep the future of our people secure. You had a lusus who cared for you.” She smiled, and the expression was sad. “I was jealous of you… and I wanted to love you so much.”

“But?” Kanaya asked.

“But I couldn’t really love anyone. I was so wrapped up in my own shit that I couldn’t actually feel anything like that for anyone. I know there were reasons for that… a lot of reasons. But those reasons don’t feel like reasons, you know?”

Kanaya waited a second, then nodded. “I believe I understand your meaning, yes.”

“Now I’m just kinda… I don’t fucking know!” Vriska laughed and leaned back on the stool. “Everything I went through in the black hole feels like it was a dream, but also I’m not the same person anymore. I know all this, but it’s like I just fell asleep and woke up a completely different person.”

“I cannot say I understand how you feel, Vriska.” Kanaya frowned. “But I am trying to.”

“It doesn’t fucking matter! Even if I feel really bad or whatever, it doesn’t change that no one I hurt needs my self-pity.”

“Can I ask you something indelicate?” Kanaya asked quietly – she saw Vriska nod. “How much of your advances were based in some core of genuine care for me?”

Vriska’s face went pale and she started shaking again. She didn’t answer right away, but only looked down at her knees. When she finally spoke again, her voice was small and distant.

“I don’t know, Kanaya. It feels so distant now. I’d love to say there was something there – that I loved you in some kind of weird way – but I don’t know how much of that’s really real and how much is from how I feel now. Fuck!” She curled her hands into fists and clutched at her jeans. “I shouldn’t have said anything today!”

“It is fine.” Kanaya reached out and took one of Vriska’s hands. “I do not require that you have this conversation right now – I would have been perfectly content to leave this issue for another day.”

Vriska smiled with one side of her mouth and looked up without lifting her head. “Rose is one lucky shit… you know that, right?”

Kanaya blushed. “I am not one to unduly bolster my own worth.”

“Sure. It’s true. I notice you didn’t say anything about what I said… about how I feel about you now.”

“It seemed…” Kanaya’s face went deep jade and the flush in her cheeks spread across her nose and up to her forehead. “It seemed to be an inappropriate time to pursue that particular line of inquiry.”

“Right, of course.” Vriska snorted a short laugh. “We’ll come back to that one later, right?”

“Perhaps,” Kanaya said thoughtfully. “But in any case I do not want to be unclear – I believe that both you and Terezi deserve to be able to strive for some measure of happiness in this new world. We all suffered for so many reasons – from the Alternian system and our own roles within it. We must all live with our decisions, but I feel it is important to temper this with the understanding that we were also still quite young at the time. You and Terezi both found yourselves indoctrinated into a culture of violence from the earliest of ages. Do I earn the right to condemn you for this because my own role was set as that of the caretaker? I would say not – if anything, I have come to understand in these past few years that sometimes mercy is more meaningful than vengeance.”

Vriska was smiling again. “Thanks. You’re fussy, but you’re good with words.”

“I make a concerted effort,” Kanaya said.

“Thanks,” Vriska said again – quieter this time. “I mean that. Part of why it bothered me so much… the way I treated you, I mean… part of why that got to me was because I realized that I cared about you. Maybe that part of me was there all along or maybe it wasn’t… and I guess it doesn’t fucking matter. At the end of the day, I care about you and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I cannot say I ever expected Vriska Serket to say those words to me,” Kanaya said, looking into Vriska’s eyes. “But I can say that I am happy that you are saying them now. In spite of everything, I did not stop caring about you… nor about Terezi. I am glad to be a part of this day, and I am glad to see both of you on the path of healing from what happened to you.”

Vriska looked down again and fidgeted with her jeans. When she spoke, her voice had gotten quiet again. “Me too.”


	5. June Egbert, Confidant of the Other

“Hey, June,” Terezi’s voice carried easily in the still air of the garden outside of the Maryam-LaLonde household. June looked up to see Terezi – and Terezi was wearing a dress.

Not just any dress, but one that Kanaya had obviously put an immense amount of time, care, and love into. June felt her mouth hanging open, and her mind skipped back… four years or so, back to when she’d just realized she even _was_ June Egbert. Another dress that Kanaya had made.

“Geez, you look great!” June grinned at Terezi, who seemed to sense the gesture and returned it with a wink.

“Thanks, but…” her voice trailed off and she shuffled her feet. “Can we talk for a minute? Somewhere private.” She glanced around, her face betraying a nervous energy that June was sure hadn’t been there at the beginning of the day.

“Sure!” June reached out and grasped one of Terezi’s hands. “There’s a little spot over here in the hedges that no one goes.” June guided Terezi back through a small opening in the hedges and into a clearing with a bench on it.

“I think Kanaya comes here sometimes,” June said thoughtfully. “But I think she’s busy right now. I saw Vriska heading back that way so maybe she had to do some alterations or something. I don’t know how that stuff works!”

June sat on the bench and tucked her legs up while Terezi stood in place.

“I don’t want to mess the dress up,” she said.

“What’d you want to talk about, Terezi?” June looked up and smiled. “Are you excited? Nervous?”

She shrugged. “Worried, I guess.”

“About the wedding?” June clapped her hands in front of her. “It’s nothing! You and Vriska are just having fun with this. Besides, you’re both great together!”

“Yeah…” Terezi shifted her feet. “I guess we are. June – if I tell you something can you not tell Vriska about it? Or anyone?”

June wasn’t sure how to respond – this felt important! It felt potentially dangerous too… what if Terezi confessed that she didn’t want to marry Vriska after all?! Of course, the whole marriage was basically just for fun, so… June didn’t open her mouth to say anything. Better to stay silent and have people think you’re an idiot than talk and confirm it!

“I won’t say anything,” June said.

Terezi nodded and shifted again. “Okay, good. So… I guess I’m not sure how to feel about Vriska.”

She didn’t mean to, but June gasped. This was it! She wasn’t sure how she was supposed to help, but she needed to do _something!_

But Terezi wasn’t done talking.

“I love her… I love her _so_ much. But sometimes it feels like I’m not in love with the same person that I was before. I know she says she didn’t experience time like she’s literally a thousand years older or whatever… but sometimes it feels like she kinda is. She’s so _different_ in so many ways.”

Terezi frowned. “I don’t even think it’s a bad thing. She’s more thoughtful… she doesn’t just act without worrying about how it’ll hurt other people. And…” Another shift of her feet – Terezi frowned. “She feels terrible about what happened back on Alternia. But I keep trying to explain to her that it wasn’t just about her… it was everything that happened. She hurt me… so much…”

Terezi’s hands went to her eyes – eyes that were permanently dulled a deep hue of red. June swallowed hard. She hadn’t been quite ready for the turn this was taking.

“I’m sorry,” June said softly. It was all she could think of.

But Terezi shook her head. “No… it’s not that simple. I hurt her too. I hurt a _lot_ of people, June. I still have dreams about it. I don’t see their faces anymore – just feel them all watching me. They keep asking me why I didn’t take a different path and… I don’t have an answer.”

She sighed, drawing in a breath that hitched at the end – she was starting to cry now. “And I keep thinking that if that’s what Vriska had to re-live for so many years, maybe I don’t have what it takes to help her come back from that.”

June stood up and took a step toward Terezi. She lifted her hands and moved to put them on Terezi’s shoulders – the troll didn’t move away.

June gathered herself up and spoke. “I don’t know what it was like for either of you. But if Vriska is willing to do all this just to show you she cares about you, maybe she thinks you’re worth being around. And if you think it’s worth it… maybe you feel the same way?”

This time, Terezi smiled – she leaned her head over and touched a cheek to the back of June’s hand.

“I guess that’s true.” She was silent for a moment, and when she spoke again her voice shook. “I hurt you too though.”

“Yes,” June said bluntly. “You did – even if you thought you were helping somehow. And you helped me make sure we were able to get here in the first place. And you were here for me on Earth-C. And you’ve changed too, Terezi.”

Terezi took a step back and inhaled sharply, running a hand along her own cheek and sighing. “Yeah, I guess I have.”

“No one just stays the same forever,” June said. “If you think that you’ve never changed, you’re just lying to yourself. And that’s not a bad thing!” She smiled at Terezi.

“You smell happy.” Terezi was smiling now too. “And excited – why are you geeking out about this so much?”

“Are you kidding?!” June stared at her. “Two of my friends are getting married! We get to have a big party and you’ll say nice things about each other and Vriska’ll probably start crying.”

“What?” Terezi laughed. “She wouldn’t.”

“Nope.” June pursed her lips and nodded sagely. “It’ll be Vriska who cries first. And she’ll pretend she’s not but she’ll be super obvious about it.”

June saw tears in Terezi’s eyes, but she was grinning and trying to keep from laughing louder. “Okay, she’ll totally do that. But I’ll be able to smell her delicious… uh…” Terezi stopped and blushed. “Oh shit, she really does love me, doesn’t she?”

“The judge thinks counsel’s assessment is an accurate one.” June winked at Terezi.

“Don’t think I didn’t hear that wink at the end, June!” Terezi leaned forward and, without missing a beat, planted a single kiss on June’s cheek. June gasped and put her hands to her face in a pantomime of shock.

“Terezi! I’m scandalized! What will the others think?!”

“They’ll think you’re a damn dork, June.”

There was a pause… and the two of them burst out laughing together.


	6. Roxy LaLonde, Live-Tweeting the Whole Thing

_Roxy was excited._ That would be the overly mild, milquetoast way of putting it. She was sitting there grinning her ass off and practically bouncing in her seat. Part of the gardens had been set up with rows of chairs on either side of a makeshift aisle, leading to a small arbor that Roxy was sure hadn’t been there before today. Roxy had made sure – made _absolutely_ sure – that she was in the very front row.

June, sitting next to her, had a grin on her face that suggested she felt exactly the same way about this as Roxy did. No matter the ultimate meaning of it – a wedding in a world where you were basically a god was legally pointless – Roxy was still excited to see her friends doing this. Or maybe “friends” wasn’t the right word, exactly. Vriska had been distant since she returned to Earth-C, and Terezi was… well, Terezi was an experience sometimes. June had an easier time relating to her.

Still, it was exciting. Roxy had already made sure her phone was out, pesTwitter at the ready.

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

  


excited 4 VrisRezi wedding tiem!!! #WeddingBells #TruLuv5Ever  


❤ 34 10:14 am • 8/1/5024

3 people are talking about this

She turned around in her seat, craning her neck to see if either of the two brides had arrived yet. Rose was down at the end of the aisle, speaking to Kanaya and Casey the Salamander in a low voice about something. The rest of the seats had rapidly filled up – the general tone had been “friends and family plus whoever else wants to show up within the limits of capacity” and that had resulted in a mixture of that handful of people who actually knew the brides and a large number of random gawkers who wanted to see the human wedding tradition.

Roxy turned back to the front, looking over the arbor and assorted decorations that had been so carefully put together for the occasion. None of it was in any way necessary – either by actual need or by social convention – and that made it all the more meaningful that it had been set up. Roxy knew for a fact that Kanaya had a hand in most of the planning of the site itself, and that felt meaningful in a way she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

  


@grimAuxilliatrix fuckin CHOICE w the set!

love 2 my grrrrl Kankan #WeddingTiemBinches #VrisReziWedding  


❤ 76 10:17 am • 8/1/5024

7 people are talking about this

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

  


OMG @endocrineBiohacker already in tearz here

itz cool Juney im here 4 u!

#SupportiveGF #VrisReziWedding  


❤ 132 10:18 am • 8/1/5024

26 people are talking about this

Next to her, June looked down at her phone and Roxy saw her face suddenly go bright red and she stared hard at the ground, smiling and wiping the tears from her eyes. Roxy reached over and threaded her fingers in with June’s, squeezing gently.

“Awww, you’re such a dork,” she said to June, whose smile only got bigger. “I love you… you know that, right?”

June nodded. She looked like she really wanted to say something back, but she was grinning and looked like she was trying desperately not to burst into a full-on fit of happy crying. Roxy leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

“Really, really. Love you,” she whispered into June’s ear.

This time June turned to look back at her. “I love you too, Roxy. So much.” Before she knew exactly what was happening, June’s lips were brushing her own and she felt her own face getting hot. She closed her eyes and let the feeling wash over her.

It was over too quickly, and June was grinning and looking down at her phone as if nothing had happened. Roxy traced a finger over her bottom lip and grinned.

Juuuuuuuune✔ @endocrineBiohacker

  


yes, and I'm not even gonna deny it! this is EMOTIONAL STUFF here!

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

OMG @endocrineBiohacker already in tearz here

itz cool Juney im here 4 u!

#SupportiveGF #VrisReziWedding  


❤ 231 10:21 am • 8/1/5024

154 people are talking about this

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

  


@endocrineBiohacker knowz wat she did!!!!!

#Lesbiab #VrisReziWedding  


❤ 354 10:22 am • 8/1/5024

46 people are talking about this

Juuuuuuuune✔ @endocrineBiohacker

  


;B

wonk!

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

@endocrineBiohacker knowz wat she did!!!!!

#Lesbiab #VrisReziWedding  


❤ 478 10:22 am • 8/1/5024

241 people are talking about this

At the end of the aisle, Roxy saw a familiar figure walking confidently to her place at the end. Vriska Serket was wearing a tailored set of suit pants and a vest made of a deep blue fabric over a black dress shirt. Vriska had a tendency to look pensive as of late – the energy she’d come back with almost a year ago was so distinctly different than how she’d been during the game. But today she was actually smiling. She stood near Rose and Kanaya and she looked, above all else, like she truly wanted to be here.

The guests had all settled in by now, and Roxy could see so many faces that she didn’t recognize, but a few that she did. Dave was setting up a sound system near the arbor – a set of speakers and what looked like a turn-table set up between them.

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

  


we got @turntechGodhead 4 the official tunes here!

#BrosephWithTheMosteph #VrisReziWedding  


❤ 765 10:26 am • 8/1/5024

387 people are talking about this

YES THIS IS KARKAT FUCK YOU @carcinoGeneticist

  


HEY WHY WEREN'T YOU DOING THIS FOR WHEN DAVE AND I GOT MARRIED?!

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

we got @turntechGodhead 4 the official tunes here!

#BrosephWithTheMosteph #VrisReziWedding  


❤ 2 10:27 am • 8/1/5024

413 people are talking about this

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

replying to  @carcinoGeneticist

  


u didnt TELL anyone dingASS! #VrisReziWedding  


❤ 354 10:27 am • 8/1/5024

516 people are talking about this

Roxy saw Karkat on the other side of the aisle scowling at his phone. He looked up and shot a withering glare at Roxy, who grinned and waved at him. Still, scowling, Karkat looked back down and muttered something that Roxy couldn’t hear from a distance.

Rose had already taken her place under the arbor, and everyone was in their seats. It was, after all the preparation, time. From the speakers set up at the front, music began to play – Roxy recognized the general theme of the traditional wedding march remixed almost beyond the point recognition. And, oddly enough, as Vriska walked down the aisle… it worked.

She stood under the arbor and shuffled her feet, looking uncharacteristically nervous in the warm morning sunlight. Rose said something quiet to her, and Vriska smiled in response… and Roxy wished she could be there to hear what it was. It occurred to Roxy that she’d never actually seen a wedding before – not in person. The archives left for her had contained footage of them, sure. Records of the historic wedding of Gru and Lucy from Old Earth had made it look like so much fun… in spite of all the horrid yellow creatures that were apparently traditional at such ceremonies.

That was a joke that Roxy told herself – she knew that it wasn’t a historic record… she just lacked a point of reference that didn’t involve annoying cartoons – thanks perhaps to a certain sense of bitterly ironic humor on the part of her mother.

But despite all of that, she’d never actually had anyone to see getting married. And maybe it was just a performance. And maybe it didn’t actually _change_ the essential character of the couple’s relationship. But it didn’t matter, because this wasn’t _supposed_ to be anything more than it was. It was, at the end of the day, a way for the two of them to celebrate with the people that they cared about.

The music swelled, changed slightly, and Roxy turned back to see Terezi at the back of the aisle.

Her jaw dropped.

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

  


@grimAuxilliatrix holy fukin shit that DRESS!

#KanayaKrafts #VrisReziWedding  


❤ 1.1K 10:33 am • 8/1/5024

782 people are talking about this

It was the color of seafoam – not the actual dirty shit in the ocean, of course, but a pleasantly blue-green hue that looked perfectly at home against Terezi’s gray skin. The dress fell low off her shoulders and her hair was pinned up, exposing an almost scandalous amount of collar bone to the world at large.

The dress fell to the ground and pooled a bit, requiring that Terezi lift up in order to walk without stepping on it. She didn’t seem to mind – her face was positively beaming.

Walking in front of her was Casey the Salamander, holding a basket filled with rose petals. Every couple steps, Casey picked a handful of petals out and tossed them on the aisle.

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

  


@CaseyOfficial iz the most ADORABL flower grl

but i saw u eat a petal!!!

#MONCH #VrisReziWedding  


❤ 1.8K 10:34 am • 8/1/5024

1.7K people are talking about this

Vriska’s face said everything Roxy could’ve wanted to know about how she felt about the dress. Or about Terezi in general. Her cheeks were flushed blue and she was staring wide-eyed as Terezi gracefully followed Casey down the aisle. Finally, she stood next to Vriska, who reached out and took her hand.

Roxy couldn’t hear what she said to Terezi, but the movement of her lips made it clear enough.

_“You’re beautiful.”_

Terezi blushed and Roxy fought back the urge to scream with excitement. The two of them stood together with the crowd looking on and Rose smiling… and for a moment, everything was frozen in time. The morning sun shone down on the two brides, setting off the highlights in their clothing and the flush of color on both of their cheeks.

For that moment, Roxy was so happy for them.

The music stopped, and Rose raised her voice. She projected easily over the crowd, clearly audible even at the back of the garden.

“I think I’m supposed to say _dearly beloved_ right now, but that feels wrong.” She paused, undoubtedly for dramatic effect. “Not because you’re not that… but because that was how we used to do things on Earth, and maybe we need to learn to leave those things behind.”

Rose paused again and looked at Vriska and Terezi… and her eyes were glistening.

“Marriage is only a symbolic act. It doesn’t lend legitimacy to a relationship. It doesn’t make that relationship more or less real. In our world, marriage doesn’t even confer legal standing or status. But here they are, planning a wedding… why?”

Rose looked out over the crowd.

“Because they wanted to. For their friends. For each other. Because marriage is only a symbolic act, and they decided that it was worth presenting to the world.”

Terezi motioned to Rose and the woman leaned in – after a moment, a grin broke out on Rose’s face and she straightened up.

“Because they wanted to throw a kick-ass party for everyone, apparently.” Rose cleared her throat. “In a tradition they were informed of as of yesterday, the couple have decided to write their own vows. Terezi?”

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

  


custom vowz AND a fukin BOMB ASS DRESS for @gallowsCalibrator

HOYL SHIT!!!

#Fangirl #VrisReziWedding  


❤ 1.1K 10:37 am • 8/1/5024

2.2K people are talking about this

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

  


OMFG @gallowsCalibrator n @arachnidsGrip 5 ev-AR!!!

#VrisReziWedding  


❤ 891 10:37 am • 8/1/5024

2.3K people are talking about this

Terezi smiled and began – “There was a time when I thought I’d lost you forever. I thought I’d never be able to tell you how I felt about you again – that I’d never be able to show how much I care about you. Every single day I’m glad that wasn’t true – I’m glad that I get to be there to tell you everything I wanted to… and everything I never thought to say before. There’s still so much I have to learn about the world… about myself. Every day I’m glad that I can do that with you. I love you, Vriska, and I want to keep showing you that for as long as I’ve got.”

Vriska stood there, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, her mouth was hanging slightly open and she was mouthing words that didn’t come out. Rose leaned in and whispered something to her.

“Yeah… yeah…” Vriska stammered out, blushing furiously. “I…”

She stopped, and wiped her eyes quickly.

“Terezi… I don’t know what to say to you. I’ve had a lot of time to think about this… more time that I ever thought I’d get. No matter what, I always kept coming back to the same place. I care about you… so much. I love you…”

She stopped and it was obvious she was crying. Tears streaked down her face and she pulled in her bottom lip, trying desperately to keep composure.

“I love you _so much,_ Terezi. I know we don’t get guarantees in life, but that’s something I want you to know.” Vriska looked at Terezi, and Terezi was crying too. Roxy felt her own eyes burning.

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

  


I AM CRYING WITH JOY!!!!!!!!

#VrisReziWedding  


❤ 1.3K 10:39 am • 8/1/5024

2.5K people are talking about this

Rose smiled at the two brides and then looked back to the crowd again. “I have no authority here and I don’t care if anyone objects. These two have made it clear how they feel about each other, and as far as I’m concerned they’re married now.” She looked back at Vriska, then at Terezi – she smiled and it was warm in a way that Roxy had only seen a few times before.

“You may kiss the bride.”

And Roxy squealed with delight.

Itz Roxy Binches✔ @tipsyGnostalgiac

  


OMG 2 billion/10 best wedding EVAR woudl watch these binches get married a milion fukking tiems moar!!!

now peace out ima eat CAEK!

#CAKE!!! #VrisReziWedding  


❤ 1.5K 10:47 am • 8/1/5024

2.6K people are talking about this

**Author's Note:**

> Dear Reader, thank you again for taking the time to read my work! If you enjoyed it, please leave kudos or a comment (I will respond to most comments)!
> 
> You can follow me on Twitter: @AltUniverseWash


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